Those Winter Sundays By Langston Hughes Analysis

One of the most challenging jobs in the world is raising a child. There is nothing comparable to the constant worry, love, and nurture that a parent provides for their child. It is a nonstop job that follows one to the grave. It is a job that holds many joys, but holds many adversities as well. Robert Hayden’s “Those Winter Sundays” and Langston Hughes “Mother to Son” are two different poems that share the same theme—Parents continuously face hardships, struggles, and obstacles when raising a child. What makes these two poems extraordinary in conveying this theme is that they are told from two different points of view. “Those Winter Sundays” is told from a son’s perspective of how his father treated him as a young boy. The speaker, as a young boy, thinks that his father is a cold and unloving person. When he becomes an …show more content…
The “other forms or suggestions” represent the last stanza, where the reader begins to realize that the poem has more meaning than what is initially seen. It brings the image in the reader’s mind full circle. From seeing a hardworking man warming a house, to a young boy waking up to the warmth, to a grown man reflecting on how he treated his father. The image that is created helps reveal the meaning of the poem, that the speaker is unappreciative of his father because he does not realize that his father’s actions are a display of love. The image that “Those Winter Sundays” creates is more detailed and somber than “Mother to Son.” “Those Winter Sundays” forces the reader to look beyond the “blurred” and “fuzzy” picture that is created and look deeper at the other forms that “emerge from the background.” This makes the reader form a relationship with the father and son of “Those Winter Sundays,” which is why it is more effective than “Mother to